Chatham Islands, New Zealand - New Zealand authorities on Wednesday confirmed 477 pilot whales have died in two recent strandings, in what they called one of the country's largest animal events.

The strandings occurred on the remote Chatham Islands, which are some 520 miles off the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island.

On Saturday, 232 whales were stranded on the main island, and then on Monday 245 were found stranded on Pitt Island, about 25 miles north of the first event.

Environmental charity Project Jonah said theses strandings are one of the larger events in New Zealand.

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"While we experience large mass strandings at Farewell Spit (at the top of the South Island), these events average 70-80 whales," they said.

Usually, the charity attempts to rescue the large dolphins wherever possible.

However, no rescue attempts could be made on Chatham Islands due to the area's small population, the inability to mobilize trained medics quickly, and the risk of predators close to shore which pose a threat to both human rescuers and whales.

"Sadly, the whales that survived the initial stranding were euthanized," Project Jonah said. The whales would be left to decompose naturally.

Strandings are a complex phenomena, per the charity, often with multiple contributing factors.

"It's something that has been happening throughout recorded history and something that scientists are working to understand. We do know that the tight social bonds of pilot whale pod in particular are one of the reasons why such large numbers of these animals stranding together."

Whale strandings are not uncommon on the Chatham Islands. The largest event was recorded in 1918 when over 1,000 animals died in a single stranding.